Knowledge above mortality is knowledge proper. Mundane knowledge has no value, for it does not endure. We must enquire elsewhere for permanent knowledge. Real knowledge is stable. It has a firm foundation, and Vedic education deals with how to acquire that knowledge. The meaning of the word veda is «know». No rhyme or reason is shown why you should know, and no explanation is given: simply, «know».
Because doubt is absent in the spiritual plane, no cheating is possible. It is a simple, direct transaction: «know». In that transcendental plane, everyone is a confidential friend, and they are stainless in their conduct. No cheating tendency is possible there, so there is no suspicion. Here, we are in the plane of misunderstanding and doubt, so we want to examine everything. We are living in a vulnerable and vitiated plane, where people cheat one another. We cannot rely on others, for they may deceive us. But where cheating is unknown, transactions are very simple and straightforward. So, no reason is given for suggestions that come down from that plane. Now, the question arises how to attain that sort of true, comprehensive, and non-deceptive knowledge? In the Bhagavad-gita (4.34), Krishna says:
tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah
«To learn knowledge above mortality, you must approach a self-realised soul, accept him as your spiritual master, and take initiation from him. Enquire submissively and render service unto him. Self-realised souls can impart knowledge unto you, for they have seen the truth.»
We have to approach the domain of knowledge with self-surrender, honest enquiry, and a serving attitude. We have to approach that plane with the mentality of slavery. Higher knowledge will not serve a person of lower status. If we want perfect knowledge at all, we will have to serve the Supreme Lord. He will use us for His own purpose, not that we will use Him. We may be subjects in this mundane world, but we will have to become objects to be handled by the superknowledge of that plane. If we want to connect with that higher knowledge, we must approach with this attitude.
Pranipat means that I have finished my experience here; I have no charm or aspiration for anything in this world. Then there is pariprasna, or honest, submissive, and humble enquiry with sincere eagerness, and not with a challenging mood; otherwise, perfect knowledge won’t care to descend to us. Krishna is already full in Himself, so we have to enter His domain only to fulfil His purpose. He can’t be subservient to us, for we are tiny persons with meagre experience and a conception of mean fulfilment. We cannot handle Him; we can approach Him only if we like to be handled by Him. So, such a favourable environment should be created where real knowledge is to be cultivated. That knowledge is supreme and cannot be subservient to the mundane conception, the world of mortality. It is sach-chid-ananda. Sat means unassailable existence, chit means consciousness, and ananda means beauty and pleasure.
«I must try to relieve myself of my present material miseries and enquire after a proper land where I can live happily.» Having come to this conclusion, we will have to search for a person who is a bona fide agent of the higher world and consult with him about how we can be relieved from this present undesirable environment. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (11.3.21), it is said:
tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam
sabde pare cha nisnatam brahmany upasamasrayam
«What is the conception of real good, and who is considered to be a bona fide agent of the truth? One who has knowledge of the scripture that has descended from the upper domain, who has theoretical as well as practical knowledge of higher truth, must be approached by a bona fide enquirer, for such a qualified spiritual master can impart proper knowledge to the sincere student.» In the Mundaka-upanisad (1.2.12), it is also stated:
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigachchhet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
«In order to learn transcendental knowledge, one must approach a genuine spiritual master coming in disciplic succession who is fixed in the Absolute Truth.»
In this verse, the word tata means «after this». When one’s calculation is finished, he thinks, «Life is not worth living here in this world of birth, death, old age, and disease. I must have a better world in which to live, where I can live as a gentleman. At every moment, death is devouring everything. Birth, death, old age, and disease — all these troubles prevent me from fulfilling my ambitions here. I want something categorically different.» At that time, taking the responsibility on his own shoulders, without giving any trouble to the Guru, and at the risk of poverty, ill-feeding, and so many other hardships, he will approach the Guru. It is a free transaction. Not that he will give something to Gurudev, but he will collect what is necessary for sacrifice, for education, and at his own risk he will approach the spiritual master.
And what will be the position of the Guru? He will be well-versed in the scriptures, the sruti-sastra, or that knowledge which can only be acquired through the medium of sound, by earnest hearing, (srotriyam brahma-nistham).
Brahma-nistham means, «One who is established in brahma, spirit, and who is acquainted with the causal position of the universe.» That is described in the Upanisads:
yato va imani bhutani jayante
yena jatani jivanti
yat prayanty abhisamvisanti
tad vijijnasasva tad eva brahma
«The Supreme Brahma is the origin and shelter of all living beings. When there is a creation, He brings them forth from their original state, and at the time of annihilation, He devours them. After creation, everything rests in His omnipotence, and after annihilation, everything again returns to rest in Him.» These are the confirmations of the Vedic hymns.
yasmin vijnate sarvam idam vijnatam bhavati
yasmin prapte sarvam idam praptam bhavati
«By knowing Him, everything is known; by getting Him, everything is gained.» We have come to enquire about Brahma, the biggest, the all-accommodating principle by knowing which we can know anything and everything. And it is possible; it is not impossible. The Upanisads say, «If you want to know anything, then know the whole. And what is the nature of the whole? Everything is coming from Him, everything is being maintained by Him, and again everything enters into Him. That is Brahma; so try to know that. If you can know that, everything will be known to you.»
This is also explained in the Srimad Bhagavatam (4.31.14):
yatha taror mula-nisechanena
trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah
pranopaharach cha yathendriyanam
tathaiva sarvarhanam achyutejya
«Just as if you pour water onto the root of a tree, the whole tree is fed, and just as when you supply food to the stomach, the whole body is fed, so if you can gain knowledge of the prime cause, Brahma, then you can know anything and everything.» Faith in this is called sraddha.
The Vedanta-sutra, the very gist of the Vedas, says, «Athato Brahma-jijnasa: now that you have finished with the fruitive activities recommended in the karma-kanda section of the Vedas by Jaimini, we ask you to enquire about Brahma.»
That is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.1.1), «Janmady asya yato ’nvayad itaratas charthesv abhijnah svarat: friends, let us enquire into the prime cause, whose nature is such that whatever we can see, and whatever we can conceive of, springs from Him. He is the ultimate cause of everything, both directly and indirectly.» Only He knows the purpose for which all things are created and maintained. Only He knows where all things will go. Only He is aware of that fact — no one else.
Arthesv abhijnah svarat means that He knows the meaning of every incident in existence and that He is above giving any explanation to others. He is not responsible to any law or to anyone else. He is absolute and independent.
And how do we know that? He has extended knowledge of Himself through the Vedas. Brahma means Veda. So, by the line of inspiration, or revelation, Vedic knowledge was transmitted to the first living being, the creator of the world, Lord Brahma (tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye). The scholars of the world fail to understand the strategy and nature of that sort of knowledge. They cannot follow the vital and fundamental points of Vedic knowledge, such as the transformation of one thing into another (muhyanti yat surayah). Water may be transformed into gas, gas may be transformed into ether, earth may be transformed into heat: by such a process, we can understand the existence of this world (tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mrsa), for by the transformation of the Lord’s energy, this world comes into being. This transformation involves the three modes of nature: tamas, rajas, and sattva. Tama means hard, static matter. Raja means energy, and sattva means spirit, light, knowledge. So, by transformation this world has been created.
In His abode, which is illumined by the ray of His own knowledge, there is no possibility of deception or misunderstanding (dhamna Svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi).
Here, we are being deceived through misunderstanding. We have entered a plane of existence where the whole world is full of misconception, falsity, and miscalculation. We are presently living in the world of maya. Maya means ma–ya: «what is not.» I am seeing something which is really something else.
Isavasyam: everything is meant for God. That is the Hegelian theory: reality is by itself and for itself. Hegel is the founder of Ideal Realism, so he says, «Reality is by itself and for itself.» «By itself» means that He is His own cause; no one has created Him. Otherwise, whoever had created Him would have primary importance. «For itself» means that God exists only to fulfil His own purpose. This is the universal truth: everything is for Him, and nothing is for anyone else. So, when we think that the things around us are meant for us, or for our nation, or for the human beings, this is all a false calculation, and knowledge based on such a miscalculation has its reaction.
«To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.» I am eating something; it is entitled to eat me. In the Manu-samhita, the word mamsah is used to indicate meat. Mam means «me», sah means «he». Mamsah means «me-he». What is the meaning? I am eating him, and he will eat me afterwards as a reaction. He is entitled to devour me, as I am at present devouring him. This is the underlying meaning — every action, whatever it is, has its reaction. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (3.9):
yajnarthat karmano ’nyatra loko ’yam karma-bandhanah
tad-artham karma kaunteya mukta-sangah samachara
«Unless work is done as a sacrifice for Visnu, one’s own work will be the cause of bondage; therefore, work on My behalf and free yourself from the chain of action and reaction.» Bhagavad-gita says that any work, no matter what it is, causes a reaction. For example, you may nurse a patient. Apparently, it is a good thing, but you are giving the patient medicine that comes from killing so many insects, trees, creepers, and animals. You may think that your nursing is a very pure duty, but you are causing a disturbance in the environment, and you will have to pay for that. In this way, whatever we do here cannot be perfectly good. The German philosopher Kant has said, «Without good will, no action can be perfectly good.» But we are of the opinion that even good will is impossible here in this mundane plane. According to Kant, good will is a pure thing, whereas no action here can be perfect, but we say that even good will is impossible in the relative calculation of the world because we are plodding in the mud of misunderstanding.
Pure knowledge comes only from above, and we have to learn to accept that. When that sort of understanding comes within us, it is known as sraddha, or faith. Faith is also a great thing. We should have faith that if we do our duty towards the Absolute, then all our duties to the environment in all directions are automatically done (Krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya). By satisfying Krishna, the whole universe becomes satisfied, for one who is dear to Krishna is dear to the whole universe (tasmin tuste jagat tustam prinite prinito jagat). Just as by watering the root of the tree, all the leaves and branches are automatically nourished, by fulfilling one’s duty towards Lord Krishna, all one’s duties are automatically fulfilled.
Everything is meant for Krishna. We are also meant for Him (Isavasyam idam sarvam). This is true knowledge, and this is the true situation of the world. Exploitation is an incomplete and reactionary idea for which we incur a debt that we shall later have to pay. We may go to Satyaloka, the highest planet in the material universe, but by exploiting nature, we incur a debt, become heavy, and go down. And when we go down, others come to exploit and extort us until our debts are paid. Then the heaviness goes, and we become light and go upward to the higher planetary systems again. And when we go up, we exploit those who are in a lower position. In this way, there is continual exploitation and clearance of debt. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16):
abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ’rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate
«All planetary systems within this world of matter are places of repeated birth and death, but one who attains My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.» Upon going there, one never returns to this material world (yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam Mama). Krishna’s abode is nirguna, or transcendental to any material quality.
We must firmly establish the conception of Isavasyam: everything, including ourselves, is meant for the Supreme Lord. We are all His servants, and we are meant to utilise everything in His service. Any work we perform will bind us in this environment of matter, unless we perform yajna, sacrifice (yajnarthat karmano ’nyatra loko ’yam karma-bandhanah). And the Vedas enjoin, yajno vai Visnuh: «Sacrifice is meant exclusively for Visnu, or Krishna.» This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (9.24), where Krishna says, «I am the only enjoyer of every sacrifice (Aham hi sarva-yajnanam bhokta cha prabhur eva cha).» Sacrifice is not meant for the country, or for the society, or for anything else. Sacrifice is meant only for the Supreme Lord. No one less than He is worthy of sacrifice. So, only by connecting our activities with the Infinite can we be freed from the present environment of action and reaction.
When knowledge comes in connection with the Absolute, it loses its filthy characteristic. Then, we can have full knowledge, which will lead us to prema-bhakti, love of God. Everything is meant for Krishna. He is the only enjoyer of everything. He is the Absolute Autocrat, and He is the Absolute Good. We are all His servants, and everything is meant for His satisfaction. We must come to this understanding. The guru-kula system of Vedic education should be conceived in this line.
Guru means «heavy». Guru means «one who dispels the darkness», and «who is heavy, who cannot be moved by any proposal». He is so well-established in the truth that no offer of alternative knowledge, or any other proposal, can move him from his position. He is firm there. He can help the laghu, the people who are very light; those whom anyone can handle like dolls of play. But the Guru can never be moved from his position. He will sit tight there, heavier than the Himalayas, and face all fleeting conceptions of knowledge, breaking them right and left, and establishing the universal characteristic of absolute knowledge. He will impart knowledge of the Absolute Truth, Brahma, the supreme whole, dispelling all misconceptions and establishing knowledge of the Absolute upon the throne of the heart. This is the conception of guru-kula, the Vedic system of education of ancient India.
The Vedic system of education deals with knowledge proper — not half-knowledge — but knowledge of the whole, which can deliver us from all troubles and guide us to the most desirable position. Nowadays, we can sell knowledge, but this knowledge cannot be sold. Intellectual knowledge can be taken into the market, but this knowledge cannot be taken into the market, for this is absolute knowledge. Vedic knowledge gives us our fulfilment of life, attaining which we will no longer feel the necessity to run here and there for any greater knowledge.
Previously, that knowledge was taught within the guru-kula, the ancient Vedic school. Vedic knowledge means knowledge which comes from outside the area of misunderstanding, miscalculation, and false historiography. The books recorded here are filled with temporary truths and misconceptions. Such things may be useful now, but after some time, it won’t work; mundane law will have no position, and everything will be dissolved. The earth will be dissolved. Matter will be dissolved, and we won’t be able to trace any quality of matter when everything is reduced to ether. No trace of air or heat or anything else will remain in any way. With the dissolution of this mundane world, nothing will remain but transcendental knowledge.
In the Bhagavad-gita (15.6), Krishna says, «One who reaches My abode never returns to this material world (yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam Mama). The dissolution will go on in the plane of the material world, but if you can secure a visa for that land, if you can enter into that soil, you will never be mishandled. When the sun, moon, and stars are all dissolved, your eternal self, your devotional ego, will be quite safe in My plane.» The material world is the land of exploitation; the spiritual world is the opposite — the land of dedication. In the middle, there is the Brahma-jyoti, the line of demarcation between exploitation and dedication.
Here in this material world, every unit is of an exploiting nature; there it is just the opposite. Everything there is wholly dedicated to the service of Krishna, and there is no want of anything. Rather, whatever is necessary to make service to Krishna possible comes automatically. Here, everything is based on kama, desire, so real service is not possible in this plane.
There is no possibility of exploitation existing in the land of dedication, for every unit there is a dedicating one. In the lower portion of the land of dedication, there is some calculation, some awe and reverence. But in the higher sphere, it is all automatic spontaneous love: a labour of love, with increased intensity and earnestness. And we are only charmed by the beauty and love that is found in Goloka Vrndavan, the supreme abode of Krishna. In a nutshell, this is what we understand by the grace of our spiritual masters. We are very much attracted by this conception which has been given to us by our Gurudev as he has received it from the Vedic scriptures, especially the Srimad Bhagavatam. This has been explained by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself, by His teachings and practices, and this conception has been expounded by His followers, the six goswamis of Vrndavan.